Firefox Records 8.2 Million Downloads in First Day

Mozilla’s Download Day ended at 11:18 PDT Wednesday, well on its way to setting its Guinness World Record goal with a staggering 8.2 Million downloads of the Firefox 3 browser — shattering all expectations the company had when organizing the event.

According to the Download Day FAQ, Mozilla is the first company to attempt this record, thereby setting the bar for most downloads in one day. The foundation’s goal was to beat the number of first-day downloads of Firefox 2, which was 1.6 million downloads. The “sky is the limit” number was 5 million. A Mozilla representative confirmed it crossed 8 million about 30 minutes before the window closed.

In the upcoming week, Guinness World Records judges will verify the number using count records and logs while removing duplicates before it becomes the number to beat in the future.